Funerals

Members

We provide a full funeral service to synagogue members and their non-Jewish partners who also join the scheme as Non-Jewish subscribers.

Your synagogue pays an annual, non-refundable fee to JJBS both to cover the actual cost of the funeral and the plot and to provide and maintain the cemeteries at Cheshunt.

If you live within the Home Counties area this provides you with the right either to a burial at Cheshunt or a cremation at Golders Green Crematorium.
In the rest of the country, JJBS will provide a substantial contribution to the funeral costs.

These rights begin as soon as you join a member synagogue. If a member dies during the first 6 months of membership a charge for the cost of the funeral will be made.

Please contact your synagogue or the JJBS Office on 020 8989 5252 for further details.

Non-Members

JJBS will undertake the burial or cremation of a Jewish person who is not a member of the synagogue at a special charge. Burial can be in either the Woodland or Western Cemeteries.

Please contact the JJBS Office on 020 8989 5252 for further details.

Non-Jewish Partners

Jewish members and their non-Jewish partners can be buried in single, double-depth graves in either the woodland or the lawn sections of the Woodland Cemetery.

Non-Jewish partners can become Burial Subscribers of participating synagogues and pay an annual fee towards their funeral costs; alternatively they can receive a non-member’s funeral at a discounted rate.

Charges

Burials are usually at Cheshunt and cremations are at Golders Green. If a congregant wishes to bury outside London then a maximum contribution of £3000 will be made towards the cost.

The annual membership fee includes:

  • Removal of the body to the undertaker’s premises (to include undertakers costs) and onto the cemetery or crematorium
  • Tahara, coffin and shrouds
  • Transport of the coffin directly to the funeral site and provision of bearers
  • All fees and any gratuities
  • The minister to conduct the funeral and shiva prayers
  • Provision of medical certificates for a cremation

And excludes:

  • Reservation of further grave spaces – spouse £150, other family member £300
  • Tombstone costs
  • Interment of ashes after cremation (£1,050.
  • Out of area costs in the UK or abroad
  • Extra hearse journeys
  • Drive-bys (when the coffin is taken to the home before going to the cemetery)
  • Extra items relating to the coffin, limousines or cars
  • Sunday cremation supplement (£300)
  • A contribution towards the cost in the first 6 months of joining as a member

Where a congregant joins above the age of 50 there is an additional age related payment based on the age at joining. We encourage you to pay this one off payment in advance otherwise it is due at the time of death. For more information please click here.

There is an extra cost for a Woodland Burial of £2,150 for a single space and £2,550 for a double-depth space currently.

This scheme is for members who normally bury in municipal cemeteries outside London.

The amount payable for a funeral is the cost of the funeral up to a maximum of £4,250 (the national funeral cost). If a congregant wishes to bury at Cheshunt, the burial will be free of charge.

Where a congregant joins above the age of 50, the benefit payable will be reduced depending on the age of joining. We encourage you to pay a one off adjustment payment in advance otherwise it will be deducted at the time of death.

Burial in the main lawn cemetery (£9,600)
Grave Reservation (£200)
Cremation (excluding internment of ashes) (£4,150)
Sunday Cremation Supplement (£300)
Woodland burial (£12,000/£12,500) Plus Woodland supplement if not already paid.
Burial in Children’s area (£nil)

Non-Jewish partners can become Burial Subscribers of participating synagogues and pay an annual fee towards their funeral costs; alternatively they can receive a non-member’s funeral at a discounted rate.

Jewish members and their non-Jewish partners can be buried in single, double-depth graves in either the woodland or the lawn sections of the Woodland Cemetery.

Non-Jewish partner double depth in lawn cemetery (£9,000)
Non-Jewish partner woodland burial (£9000)